Dutch retired from the Army in 2011 after returning from another deployment, a divorce, and 28 years, 10 months and 4 days of active service. He taught High School for a year before joining the local Police Department in his old home town. He still lives with one dog and a cat. Two of his sons currently serve in the US Army. The youngest is still in High School. Things change... the blog remains.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

One for the Good Guys

Because of DOD regulations I am limiting my comments on operations as to not let secrets slip. However, I will continue to post information from the frontlines---approved by the US Army.

Our Battalion of Iraqi Mechanized Soldiers continues to do fantastic work. Two of the three companies are conducting operations on their own- coordinated with US forces, of course. The third is providing site security at a critical plant.

One company just completed an operation as part of a combined US Task Force. Our score:

a. 1 High Payoff Target captured (He was on the WANT list)b. 8 Insurgents capturedc. 1 Carbomb captured (in the process of being made, along with the terrorists who were building it)andd. Huge amounts of local intel

The rest of the Task Force captures four persons.

The point here is that the Iraqis can get better information and can act faster on it than our US forces. They speak the language, they KNOW the area, and they are professional enough to execute raids based on gathered intel.

The insurgency is in for trouble once the rest of the Iraqi Army is out in the field.

Of course there are problems in the new army. But every day it is getting better.

In other news our Team Leader, MAJ H, has rotated home at the end of his tour. Everyone thought I would take the team over, but a new Major was brought in to take over. I was told that the position is a Major's and since I am but a Captain...

Let me vent for a moment. This 'major' doesn't know shit. He has no tactical ability and has already pissed the Iraqi Battalion Commander off by telling him that the Iranians didn't have a good army. He based this information (and told the BN Commander this) on the fact he played a simulation agianst them once.

Our Battalion Commander has been in the Iraqi Army for 34 years. He fought against the Iranians as a Platoon Leader and was wounded...three times. He fought against us...both times. To have an American officer tell him that his eight years of war didn't mean anything...

BUT- anyway...MAJ C isn't doing anything with the team other than going to a few meetings. He has left all the planning and missions up to me, so in effect I am in command. Even the Iraqi Colonels come to me and have cut him out of the loop.

I suppose I should do something to make him better...but he is an ass as well as stupid. He'll not last long over here as the Iraqi Brigade Commander has already spoken to our General about getting rid of him.

War isn't something you can blunder through and hope you can figure it out as you go. If you do people die. You are either a leader and can handle it...or you are not and should be doing something else.

The US Army is full of officers who have gotten by because they have been safe, political, and serving in a peacetime army. Those 'qualities' they have perfected, covering their ass, not taking chances, kissing ass, are getting our soldiers killed over here.

We need a real rain to wash the scum off the streets. War tempers us and can cause us to be stronger. We (the military) need this war to shake off the last 20 years of peace cobwebs and get rid of those who do not belong.